The cabinet will be settling the offer made by Saudi Aquapower to establish wind turbines with a capacity of 500 MW within a week.

Government sources told Daily News Egypt that the company has made an offer to establish wind energy plants with a capacity of 500 MW. It seeks to implement them using the “Build, Own, Operate” (BOO) system. It is cooperating with several banking institutions to fund the projects with investments estimated at EGP 600m.

The sources added that a committee formed from the Ministry of Electricity and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) have completed studying the offer made by the Saudi company. It was referred to the cabinet, in order to look into it, and is expected to be discussed during the upcoming meeting of the cabinet.

Aquapower seeks to obtain the approval of the government to implement wind energy plants that are deemed part of its investment plan that is sought to be implemented in Egypt, alongside with the solar energy plants in Benban and Kom Ombo, as well as the complex power plant installed in Dayrout city in Behaira.

The sources said that the company has offered a good price for selling the kilowatt produced from the stations. The NREA will also provide the necessary lands for the launching of the wind energy plants after the government’s approval of the projects.

The area of the lands allocated for establishing the wind and solar energy plants in cooperation with the private sector, according to the usufruct system is estimated to be 7,872 sqm, according to the data of the NREA. About 1,420 sqm were allocated in the area of the Suez Gulf to establish wind energy plants that accommodate capacities up to 7,000 MW, in addition to 2,200 sqm in the area east of the Nile to establish wind and solar energy plants in Beni Suef, Minya, and Assiut.

Aquapower is one of the companies that qualified for the implementation of the wind power plants within the feed-in tariff. It has obtained lands but has not been able to complete the financial closure of the project, as is the case with all the companies participating in the feed-in tariff projects due to financing institutions’ objection to the declining value of the tariff, which led them to implement plants according to the BOO system.

The sources said that some companies have not submitted letters of an initial approval from banks to fund wind energy projects within the feed-in tariff; however, at the same time, they are seeking to implement other projects using the system of competitive bidding. This means that the renewable energy sector is attractive for investment.

Moreover,the sources explained that the electricity law has contributed to attracting more private companies to invest in the energy sector, especially that government bodies do not seek to compete with the private sector. They aim to achieve the added value, generate jobs, and allow local companies to take part in the establishment of projects.